ABSTRACT

This descriptive case study examines an experienced English teacher’s experience with the communicative language teaching (CLT)-based curricular reform in a South Korean secondary school context. As a lens to understand the teacher and her context, Engeström’s human activity system model (1987, 1993, 1999) was adopted as theoretical and methodological framework. In-depth interviews and classroom observations reveal that the participant teacher has had little transformation of her teaching practices in spite of her participation in different teacher education programs relevant to the current curricular reform. Central to the findings is that a teacher’s beliefs and practical knowledge, both social and cultural products of the South Korean English education community, play key roles in how she operates in the observed instructional activity system. Based on the findings, the study questions the nature of teacher education programs as well as the way English curricular reform efforts is implemented and made suggestions for future direction for English curricular reform and teacher educations in South Korea.

KEYWORD

Activity theory, Communicative language teaching-based curricular reform, Human activity system model, South Korea, Teacher belief system, Teacher education program, Washback effect

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